A text or call claims your water, electric, gas, or sewer service will be cut off in the next 30 minutes unless you pay a small amount immediately. The text includes a link to a fake utility payment page. Howard County’s Scam Squad has documented this hitting Maryland residents hard in 2026.
How This Scam Works
A text message arrives on your phone — sometimes a phone call. It claims to be from BGE, Pepco, WSSC, your county water authority, your gas company, or your electric provider. It says your bill is overdue and your service will be disconnected today, often within 30 minutes. The amount owed is small and specific: $89.32, $145.07, $212.45. The smaller the amount, the more believable it feels.
The text includes a link to a payment page that looks identical to your real utility’s website — same logo, same colors, same fonts. You enter your debit card or bank account information to “stop the shutoff.” The page processes a small charge to make it feel real. Then the scammers drain your account of much more.
Howard County’s Scam Squad documented this scam hitting Maryland residents repeatedly in spring 2026. Real Maryland utilities never demand payment by text. Real utilities give you written notice — sometimes weeks of notice — before any disconnection. Real utilities never threaten shutoff in the next 30 minutes.
What They Actually Say
Note the engineering: a real-sounding utility name, a real-looking dollar amount, a fake reference number, urgency, the threat of an additional fee, and a link that almost-but-not-quite matches the real utility URL. Every element is designed to bypass thinking.
A Real Maryland Story
Howard County, Maryland · April 2026
In April 2026, Howard County authorities issued a formal warning that older adults across Maryland were being targeted by fake water service shutoff texts. The county’s Scam Squad — a partnership between law enforcement and consumer protection agencies — confirmed multiple residents had clicked the fake links and entered banking information. The amount requested was always small enough to feel routine. Authorities stressed that legitimate agencies never demand payment by text. The Scam Squad asks residents to forward suspicious texts directly to them.
What To Do · What To Never Do
After You Hang Up
This guide covers one of 222 documented scams targeting Maryland’s older adults. Every variant we track lives in the encyclopedia, searchable by name, situation, or what they said to you.
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